To heal a poisoned heart
by Phen82
Summary: After a battle with Voldemort, Harry is left in a coma at St Mungos. His two daughters are sent to live with his cousin Dudley, but when it comes time for Kaylin's letter, neither girl can be found. Rating may change in later chapters
1. Author's note and disclaimer

Disclaimer: I don't know why you're supposed to do this. If I owned Harry Potter, I would be selling these stories for money and not merely posting them on the web for all to read for free.  
  
Author's Note: This fic contains some mentions of child abuse and is not suitable for people who are easily offended by this sort of writing. If you are easily offended by physical child abuse or briefs insinuations of child prostitution, then please do not read any further as I do not want to offend you. The prostitution side of this fic is minimal and will probably only take up about 3 sentences, I am just giving you warning in advance. 


	2. Chapter 1

Kaylin Potter woke up with a start. Her heart was beating frantically in her chest and her nightdress drenched in sweat. She had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. Something had happened. She tried to remember the dream that she had, but the harder she thought about it, the further it slipped from her conscious. She took a deep breath and pulled herself out of bed, creeping down the hall towards where she could hear sobs coming from the living room.  
  
She looked around the door and noticed her babysitter, Emma, was crying into the arms of Professor McGonagall. She'd met Professor McGonagall at her fourth birthday party just a few months ago. She noticed that Professor Snape was also there. She had met him also, at the same party. They had both come with Professor Dumbledore to see her father because they had some important news about Voldemort.  
  
She crept into the room and saw Professor Snape look up and scowl at her.  
  
"Shouldn't you be in bed?" he asked with a sneer.  
  
"Leave the child be Severus" Professor McGonagall scolded, letting Emma go and walking over to Kaylin.  
  
Kaylin took a step back, unsure as to whether she wanted to hear what was about to be said. The feeling in the pit of her stomach increased ten fold and she felt like she was going to be sick. After Professor McGonagall reached the girl, she crouched down so that they were eye level.  
  
"Kaylin, there's something we need to tell you" she said gravely, pausing and obviously trying to think how to word what she had to say to such a small child.  
  
"Maybe we should take the two girls to see Albus" Professor Snape suggested after a lengthy period of silence. Kaylin's heart turned to ice.  
  
"It was Dad wasn't it" she whispered. She looked up and saw tears in Professor McGonagal's eyes.  
  
"I'm afraid so" Professor McGonagall said in a choked voice.  
  
Kaylin nodded slightly. She felt pain well inside her and wanted to cry, but her Dad had told her that if this happened, she had to be brave for her sister.  
  
"I'll go get Julia" she said softly, walking back up the stairs towards the nursery where her 2 year old sister was still asleep.  
  
A few moments later, Kaylin came back out, with a sleepy two year old grasping her hand tightly as she walked slowly down the stairs. Professor Snape and Professor McGonagall were now alone in the living room.  
  
"Where's Emma?" Kaylin asked.  
  
"We sent her home. Her presence wasn't required" Snape replied dismissively.  
  
"Severus, these girls are too young to take the floo network by themselves. We will have to take one each" Professor McGonagall pointed out. Professor Snape rolled his eyes.  
  
"Very well" he said irritably, picking up Julia in his arms and making his way over to the fireplace. He threw powder over the flames and stepped in, clearly saying "St Mungos" before he and Julia disappeared.  
  
"Come now Kaylin" Professor McGonagall said, holding out her hand to the young girl. Kaylin took her hand and let herself be pulled into the flames as Professor McGonagall called out "St Mungos" and the world began to spin.  
  
They stepped out of the fireplace moments later, to find Professor Snape dusting himself off, and Julia watching in fascination and amusement. After dusting themselves off, Professor McGonagall led the girls through a corridor and into a small, secluded room. There was a man standing by the bed, looking very grave. He looked up as they walked in, and Kaylin recognised him as Professor Dumbledore.  
  
Kaylin saw the sadness in his eyes and felt sick. She had never seen him that sad before. She crept up to the bed and stood on a stool so that she could see the man who lay upon it. She looked at her father, not really sure of how to feel. He looked so different than he had looked earlier that day. He was very pale. She reached out her fingers to touch his face. It was very cold.  
  
"What's wrong with him?" She asked softly.  
  
Professor Dumbledore moved across the room and picked her up, placing her gently into a sitting position on the end of the bed.  
  
"After he fought with Voldemort tonight, the spell backfired. He's in a coma" Dumbledore tried to explain, unsure of how to approach this topic with such a young child.  
  
"What's a coma?" She asked, staring back at her father with vacant eyes.  
  
"It's like he's sleeping. But we can't wake him up" Dumbledore replied, hoping that it would be enough.  
  
"He always wakes up when Julia and me tickle him" Kaylin said hopefully. Dumbledore sighed, looking suddenly very old.  
  
"I'm afraid it will take more than tickling to wake him up this time" he said softly. Kaylin looked back at him and nodded, before looking back at Julia. Julia was holding Professor McGonagall's hand and looking bewildered.  
  
"Will he ever wake up?" Kaylin asked.  
  
"I don't know, child" Dumbledore replied. "I don't know"  
  
The room was silent for a few moments, no one knowing quite what to say. Julia had curled up in a ball on the chair and fallen asleep once again. Kaylin was staring blankly at her father's still form. Professor Dumbledore was staring out the window at the street below, and Snape and McGonagall were sharing meaningful looks, silently debating who was going to bring up the topic that was bothering them both.  
  
"What will happen to the girl's now?" McGonagall asked, finally relenting as it seemed that Snape would never ask. Professor Dumbledore turned and regarded them both, and Kaylin's head snapped up to catch the following conversation.  
  
"The wizarding world will be in chaos as soon as this news gets out" Dumbledore replied, looking back through the window. "It will be too dangerous to leave them with anyone from our world, so they will have to be hidden in the muggle world"  
  
"But who would take them?" Snape asked, curiosity getting the better of him.  
  
"I believe that Harry had a cousin called Dudley Dursley. I will pay Mr. Dursley a visit and hopefully we can come to a compromise" Dumbledore replied.  
  
Kaylin's mind was spinning. She hadn't heard her father speak of any family other than Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron. But they had been over earlier that day and had been arguing with him, and their only son was her age, so he couldn't be talking about them. She shook her head, trying to clear the confusion from her sleep-deprived brain and curled up on the edge of the bed. Moments later, she was fast asleep.  
  
The next day had dawned a few hours later, and Julia and Kaylin were awoken by Professor McGonagall. She urged them to get up quickly because they had to go and collect their things before they moved to their new home. Kaylin was extremely nervous about this new home that they were going to, but decided that the Professors were friends, and they surely would not send her somewhere unsafe.  
  
After their things were packed and ready to go, Professor McGonagall made them both hold on to the edge of the old shoe again, which transported them to a small, quiet street called Burklan Street. They arrived at the doorstep of number seven and Professor McGonagall knocked. A large man answered the door. Kaylin took a step back, her eyes wide. She had never seen such a big man before, except for Hagrid of course. Professor McGonagall said something to the man that Kaylin didn't catch and the man stared at her and her sister with a mean look, before standing aside and allowing them entrance. Kaylin saw that Professor Dumbledore was sitting in the living room and immediately felt relieved. She did not like the large man one bit.  
  
After the two professors spoke to the man for a while, they both stood up again.  
  
"Well, we best let you three get acquainted. We will be stopping by to check on the girls regularly of course" Professor Dumbledore said, looking over his glasses at the large man who was still sitting on the couch. Kaylin noticed the large man pale at the words and felt a small smile creep onto her lips. At least they would be coming to visit. Surely the man wouldn't do anything to hurt them if he knew that. With that thought in mind, she waved the two professors off merrily before turning back to the house that was to be her new home. 


	3. Chapter 2

A.N. Thanks for the reviews peoples!  
  
I'm not sure if this chapter sounds right, so if it sounds strange, let me know in the reviews and I'll try and fix it.  
  
Chapter 2  
  
"Albus I just don't understand" McGonagall said in exasperation. "There is no protection there with those muggles, how could the girls possibly be safe there?"  
  
"The Dark Lord will not expect the girls to be sent to a muggle residence." Dumbledore replied. Snape's head shot up at this and his eyes widened, but neither Dumbledore nor Minerva seemed to notice.  
  
"It is well known that Harry despised his relatives. This is the last place they will look" Dumbledore added.  
  
They continued walking along the path to Hogwarts in an uncomfortable silence, broken only by the occasional mutterings of McGonagall.  
  
After Dumbledore had left the two other professors to head to his office, Snape pulled McGonagall into a classroom and warded the room against intrusion, and also placing an imperturbable charm in case someone were to eavesdrop.  
  
"Did you notice anything strange about the headmaster tonight Minerva?" Snape asked in his usual, cold tone. McGonagall looked confused for a moment, then her eyes widened and she looked up at Snape.  
  
"It can't be..." she whispered, putting a hand to her mouth in disbelief.  
  
"We have to do something" Snape said. McGonagall nodded, still looking a little disoriented.  
  
"Right then, I'll meet you in Hogsmeade in an hour. Try to be discrete" he added, causing McGonagall to look indignant. However, before she could reply, he had taken the wards off the room and slunk away towards the dungeons.  
  
An hour later, Snape and McGonagall met in a dark alleyway near the three broomsticks. They nodded to each other in silent greeting before disapparating to an empty alleyway near the street where McGonagall and Dumbledore had dropped the girls off earlier that day.  
  
"Do you have the spell?" McGonagall asked haughtily, having not forgiven him for the comments he had made to her earlier. He ignored her tone and pulled a piece of parchment out of his pocket, holding it up to her. She read the parchment with pursed lips before handing it back and leading the way to the house.  
  
Dusk had begun to settle over the quiet little street. They walked slowly onwards through the fading light and stopped a few houses down from the Dursley residence. McGonagall looked up at Snape questioningly and Snape nodded and took her hand in his.  
  
Together, they began to chant in an ancient language that, had anyone been close enough to hear, would have been indecipherable. No one seemed to notice the two figures on the street though.  
  
There was a buzz of magic in the air as the chanting increased tenfold. Both of the casters felt the force of the magic behind the spell that they were casting increase to the point where it could easily have overwhelmed them both, but soon there was a resounding 'pop' and the swell of magic died down to nothing once again.  
  
They stopped chanting and looked over towards the house once again. To them, the house had not changed at all. Satisfied, the two figures walked back down the darkened street and into the alleyway, before disapparating back to Hogsmeade. As soon as Snape had materialised there, he felt a blinding pain run through his arm. McGonagall arrived not a moment later and stared at him concerned.  
  
"I must go" Snape said through clenched teeth. McGonagall nodded quickly and Snape cast a spell on himself, changing his attire to the deatheater garb, then disapparated once again. 


	4. Chapter 3

Author's note: Sorry this chapter has taken so long. I have been really busy this semester what with assignments and working nearly full time hours as well. I promise I will try to update quicker in the future. In the meantime, here is the next chapter. I hope you enjoy it!

**Chapter 3**

Kaylin sat at the windowsill staring out at the empty street. She was extremely tired, but she couldn't sleep. She let her eyes drift over to the small cot bed that her younger sister was sleeping on and felt resentment at the people who had placed her here. Her stay with Mr Dursley was turning out worse every hour that she stayed here.

Though he hadn't done anything to physically hurt them, Kaylin felt a spike of fear every time he came near them. She got the general impression that he would hurt them if he thought that he could get away with it.

Her eyes travelled over the scantily clad attic. It was barely the size of a broom closet in this room, and contained no more furniture than a small chest of drawers and a small cot bed which was supposed to service both girls. She felt a pang as she remembered the home that she had been forced to leave, and her father lying in the hospital bed. She didn't understand why she had to stay with this mean old man and his horrible wife. She felt a tear trickle down her face and suppressed a sob. Mr Dursley had already gotten angry at her for making too much noise and she didn't want to disturb him again.

She stared out the window once again, wishing that it wasn't real. Wishing that in the morning, her father would wake her up with his usual grin and tickle her. That she would be in her own room with all her toys, and that the hurt she was feeling would disappear. She sighed, and was about to move away from the window when she heard a number of loud cracks outside and her head shot up. Across the street, she could see a group of figures dressed in black.

They seemed to stand there looking for something for a while, before the tallest of the group began moving around, waving his arms in angry motions. She couldn't hear any noise coming from him, which surprised her because in all outward appearances, it seemed as if he was yelling.

She felt fear spike through her and subconsciously lowered herself from the window, but not enough so that she could not see what was going on. She saw the figure point a wand and a flash of light hit one of the other figures, sending them sprawling to the ground, where they lay moving around like a snake on the pavement and bending in odd directions. The figure with the wand pulled the wand back and the other figure stopped moving. The tall figure turned to the others that were assembled and made some sort of gesture before disappearing. Then, as suddenly as they had appeared, the rest of the group of figures was gone, leaving only the figure on the ground. The figure got up, shooting a small glance towards her. She felt the hairs on the back of her neck prickle and sank a little further from view. But the figure seemed not to see her. The head moved back and forth, as though looking for something, then the figure raised its wand and disappeared like the others had.

Kaylin stared at the now empty street, not quite understanding what had happened. She was relieved that the figures had disappeared, but was still frightened. She scanned the street with her eyes once again, making sure that there were no threats visible. She was startled to hear a soft whimper from the bed. She could see from the moonlight through the window that her little sister was shivering.

She shook her head slightly and made her way over to the cot and jumped under the thin blanket that Mr Dursley had given them, nestling herself close to her younger sister to keep her warm. Silently, she prayed to whatever power could help her that someone would take her away from here.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Severus Snape walked tired through the gates of Hogwarts and made his way silently up to the castle. He barely registered the doors of the castle opening as he approached and a woman in a tartan dressing gown and her hair in rollers rushing down the stairs towards him.

"What happened Severus?" She asked urgently.

He shook his head slightly, his eyes roaming over the castle windows. She nodded slightly in understanding and walked beside him as he walked inside the castle and towards the dungeons.

He paused only to whisper the password to his quarters, then ushered her inside, checking the halls to make sure there was no one spying on him before he quickly shut the door and warded it.

"What happened?" She demanded. "Tell me everything"

"There was an attack tonight" he said gravely. "They went straight after the girls"

Minerva slumped into a chair and put her head in her hands.

"And?" she asked tiredly.

"As they were unsuccessful in finding the residence, the Dark Lord became infuriated. He used Legilimens on all of us to find out who had betrayed him. Luckily, it is not only I who had been informed of their whereabouts prior to the gathering" he said. "Apparently Wormtail harboured some positive feeling for the girls situation, as he was ultimately blamed for the whole escapade and tortured near to the point of insanity. I believe the only reason he was spared was because he aided the Dark Lord in his return all those years ago"

Minerva nodded, still looking at the floor, her hands gently massaging her temples.

"After realising that the endeavour was fruitless, we were instructed to go to a village not far from Chesterton." He said, going over to the cabinet at the wall and pouring himself a large glass of firewhiskey.

"None were spared" he uttered softly, and downed the glass in one gulp.

He heard a small cry from behind him, but did not dare to turn around for fear that the night's events would catch up with him once more. Visions of small children crying fearfully and huge blasts of green eyes swam through his mind as he downed another glass.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Six years passed by. Dumbledore had tried to gather all of the order together, but McGonagall had made sure to only gather a skeleton group in case their suspicions were correct. Severus had never been through worse times than those. He had purposely been kept out of this skeleton meeting, and was grateful in the end, though saddened. Nearly every member that had been gathered had met with an unfortunate accident over the course of the next 12 months.

Voldemort had been furious for months after the failed attempt to eliminate Potter's only surviving kin. He had taken to calling on his servants regularly and frequently punished them for the smallest of infractions. Raids were frequent and a dark cloud had settled over the wizarding population. People were afraid to leave their homes. The ministry had brought in a number of ineffective policies to reduce the level of dark activity and had only succeeded in causing the light forces more grief.

Dumbledore had become more worn and snappish over the 12 month period, and finally retired, leaving the school to be run by his deputy Professor McGonagall. He still maintained a certain amount of leverage over the running of the school by joining the board of governors. Over the next 3 years, the board of governors had implemented a series of new policies for the school. This included offering dark arts courses to those students willing to take the subject in their final 2 years at Hogwarts, and a more comprehensive screening for muggle children. This was done under the guise that they did not wish for muggle children to be needlessly put at risk, and the dark arts courses would aid in the defence of some of the darker curses, should the young wizards and witches find themselves in a situation where it would be necessary to have that knowledge.

Neither Minerva nor Severus had been able to check on either of the girls in that time, fearing that if they were followed the girls would be in danger. None of Potter's friends had bothered to check up on where the girls had gone. This was something that confused Severus to no end, for he had assumed that all Gryffindors had a certain amount of loyalty to their own. He soon revised this opinion and had taken to only relying on loyalty of Hufflepuffs.

Neither of them had thought that the girls would be in any real danger while staying in the muggle world. They realised their error when it came time to send out the letter to Kaylin, inviting her to attend Hogwarts. They were outside increasing the wards around the school when the owl came back, looking confused and disoriented, and still holding the letter it had been sent out with.

Severus and Minerva looked at each other in confusion. The protections they had put on the muggles house should have prevented people from seeing where the girls were, but should not have prevented the owl from reaching them. They both went inside to discuss the ramifications of this new information.

"You'll have to go over there" Minerva said quietly, sipping on a cup of tea by the fire.

He nodded, knowing that there was no way that Minerva could leave the school. She was one of the few order members that were common knowledge to Voldemort's forces, and should she be seen outside the school's protections, there was a good chance that she would not live long enough to return.

He took the floo out to Hogsmeade, then apparated to the small alley way near where the girls had been left all those years ago. It was dusk by this time, and the street was hidden in shadows. He cast a "notice me not" spell over himself, then walked over to the place where the house should have been. He chanted a similar chant to the one that he had used with Minerva to protect the house.

The protection spells came down and he stared at the house for a moment.

_Oh dear Merlin!_ He thought to himself as he surveyed the house before him.


	6. Chapter 5

_From the last chapter:_

_Oh dear Merlin!_ He thought to himself as he surveyed the house before him.

**Chapter 5**

It couldn't so much be called a house, as a ruin. Half of the house had caved in and the rest was charred from inside to out. Severus sank to his knees in front of the rubble, a tear running down his cheek. It almost startled him out of his shock as displays of emotion had become so foreign to him over the years of his work as a spy.

"Did you know them?" A woman called out to him.

He shook himself out of his stupor and looked over to where the voice had come from. He saw a woman standing over a fence and looking at him curiously.

"What happened?" He asked urgently, making his way over to her.

"Crying shame that," She said clucking loudly. "They don't know what caused the fire. Only that the woman died. Pregnant she was too. Real shame. The man survived, burnt up pretty bad. But he was arrested for hurting one of the little ones. I don't know what happened to the two little girls. Don't think anyone would have even known they existed if it hadn't been for the police coming around asking about them."

"How long ago did this happen?" He asked.

"Oh, coming up near a year I think," she said, scratching her head. "Come to think of it, will be a year this coming September. I remember because it happened only a few days after my nephew's birthday on the 2nd."

Severus felt ill. 10 months. 10 months the girls had been missing, while they'd all considered them safe because there were no deatheaters around. He realised that he had to get back to Minerva immediately.

* * *

A man walked alongside the a dementor, seemingly unaffected, as they travelled to the cell where an inmate had been causing problems for the staff. They stopped by a cell door and the dementor left so that the man could be alone with the inmate.

"You again Arcania," He said, shaking his head in mock disappointment through the bars of the cell. "Haven't you given up yet? It's useless don't you see."

He leaned close to the bars, looking at the figure that was crouched in a foetal position in the corner of the cell, her unnaturally bright blue eyes shining eerily in the dull light through the window where the moon shone in.

"You know I watched them die. I want you to know that they died screaming. In torment and agony because you weren't there to protect them." He whispered, smirking as the figure lunged at the bars, beating herself against them in a rage.

He pulled out his wand lazily.

"Crucio." He said, in the tone one would use to comment on the weather.

Her screams echoed through the halls of the prison, vibrating off the walls and causing a drone of screams from the other inhabitants.

He finally released her and she glared up at him, gathering all her strength to lift herself up and spit at him through the bars. He glared disdainfully at the stain on the bottom of his robes.

"I don't care how long you waste away in here," he declared. "But sooner or later, I will break you."

He turned and walked back down the hall, his long grey beard swinging along to the beat of his high heeled boots clicking on the cement floor.

* * *

"This is without a doubt, the worst thing that could have happened." Minerva said tiredly, putting her head in her hands as the news from Severus sunk in.

"Well I know that they don't have them," Severus said. "I'm not as trusted as I used to be, but I would know if they'd managed to get the girls."

"I don't think you realise the gravity of the situation Severus," Minerva said, without lifting her head. "Now that the protections we left have been taken down, the girls can be found with any number of location spells. If they have worked out the dates for the admissions and they have cast one of these spells, they will get to the girls before we do."

"Well then we need to find them," Severus said.

"Get me a map." Minerva said, suddenly springing into action. Severus conjured a map of England and Minerva pointed her wand at it, whispering an incantation.

Nothing happened.

Minerva looked confused for a second, before waving her wand over the map and expanding it to include the world, rather than just England. She repeated the incantation and a string of purple light shot towards the paper. When the light disappeared, there was only a tiny hole left on the paper where it had been.

"How in the world did the girls get there?" Minerva whispered. Severus was speechless, as he stared at the point on the map, now engraved into it, and the two words written magically above it.

_Sydney, Australia_


	7. Chapter 7

_**Author's note: **If there is a Crebert Hotel, I've never heard of it and I'm sure it is nothing like the one described here. The descriptions of the suburb it resides in are completely fiction. I haven't been there before so I'm exercising my artistic licence._

**Chapter 6**

Severus Snape cursed every deity that he knew the name of as he lugged his heavy suitcase and travelling pack out of the busy airport. His leg muscles protested at the sudden exertion after spending so many hours on the plane, then standing around waiting for strange men in uniforms to poke him with strange devices, looking for merlin only knows what!

He was tired, sore, and absolutely starving. He felt as if he could eat a hippogriff right now. A mental image of a roasted hippogriff with an apple in its beak on a large platter emerged from his subconscious. He shuddered at the thought. No, maybe not that hungry, he mused.

He hurried out of the airport and out into the fresh air. He breathed deeply when he had finally made it out of the building and then proceeded to cough violently. About ten cars were parked outside the building with the sign "taxi" on the top of them. Though they were stationary, they were still running, and causing a black cloud of exhaust to flood the entire entrance to the building.

Severus cursed again under his breath as he lugged his suitcase over the one of the cars. The driver watched him with an amused grin as he tried to push the heavy luggage into the back of the car.

He finally managed to hoist the damn suitcase into the back and slammed the door closed, grumbling under his breath as he opened the front door and slid into the passenger seat.

The driver looked at him expectantly.

He fumbled around in the pocket of his too tight jeans. Gods how he missed his robes!

Finally, he managed to grip onto the piece of paper that Minerva had given him just before he boarded his flight, which had details of the hotel he was to be staying at.

"The Crebert Hotel in Kings Cross please." He said curtly.

The driver grinned at him and winked before starting off. Severus frowned in confusion, but decided that this driver was merely a harmless lunatic and shouldn't be worried over. He settled back in his seat for the rest of the ride.

After about half an hour, he became bored.

"How much further?" He asked.

"Short way. Maybe 15." The driver replied.

Severus scowled. He hadn't thought it should take this long to get to the hotel. Maybe Minerva had mixed it up or something. He frowned. Maybe the driver was just trying to run up the bill.

He sighed, deciding not to worry about it for the time being. He looked out the window at the streets that they were passing by. Nothing much of interest.

10 minutes went by, then 15. Severus was starting to get apprehensive.

The streets were much more crowded here than they had been before. Severus had not seen anything like it. He was used to the society of wizards and rarely ever ventured out into the muggle world anymore, but here it was in all its glory and splendour.

Girls of various ages stood on the sides of the streets, wearing nothing but scraps of cloth held together with strategic bits of string. Boys pranced around in dark make-up with heavy eyeliner and see through shirts. Old haggard looking women leaned against buildings with skirts that were too tight, too short and too shiny. He grimaced as the car came to a halt.

"Where are we?" He asked.

" Crebert Hotel sir." The driver said, giving him another wink. "That will be $78.45."

"I don't see a hotel." Severus said, frowning again.

"Right there!" The driver said, pointing to a small, decrepit building with 3 car spaces out the front.

Severus sat there, dumbfounded until the driver began impatiently tapping his hand on the steering wheel.

Severus shook himself and paid the man with some of the money that Minerva had left him. He quickly took out his bags and placed them on the pavement. The driver drove off quickly and he was alone.

He looked up once again at the building. There was a creaking sign that said "Crebert Reception". He walked over to it and knocked on the door. The door opened slightly and a man poked his head out.

"What do you want?" He asked gruffly, eyeing the stranger who stood in his doorway.

"I have a reservation. My name is Severus Snape." Severus replied.

The man eyed him suspiciously before closing the door on him. Severus blinked. The man opened the door once again and handed him a key.

"Room 4. If you break anything, it will come out of your deposit." He informed him, before closing the door on him again. Severus heard a click, indicating that the man had locked the door.

He looked down at the place where he had seen the carspaces. In front of the carspaces were rooms with numbers.

He lugged his bags over to them and followed the numbers until he reached number 4. There was no car space in front of this room, but that didn't really bother him as he didn't suppose he would require one. He turned the key in the lock and gingerly opened the door.

The room was dark. He couldn't see anything in front of him. He felt around for the light switch and the room brightened a fraction. Enough for him to see its contents anyway.

There was a small, double bed in the centre of the room. A chest of drawers next to it. There was a small, dirty looking armchair and a table off to the side. There was a door at the other side of the room which he assumed was a bathroom.

He sighed as he put his bags down, viewing the quarters with distaste. He would bear it for now, but he contented himself with the knowledge that he would kill Minerva when he got back to England.


End file.
